Searching
by Scarlett Sparks
Summary: Amber, Lynn, Josh, and many others discover that many of their favorite book series are actually real-but not in a good way. They're all captured by the Whitecoats and are given wings and develop powers, each different & unique. Not only that but it turns out almost all of them are Half-Bloods. (Warning: This story makes pretty much no sense, under revision, sorry for no updates.)
1. Chapter 1

**Muse's POV**

_ I was at a family reunion. I loved my family, even though they annoyed me... a lot. "Hey Lynne toss, toss the Frisbee," my favorite cousin yelled. We were in Nebraska, and it was a warm summer day. I tossed the Frisbee to Jessie. She was a cute little kid. We looked nothing like each other, but our grandmas were sisters, so that made us cousins._

_ The dream shifted to a meadow... My meadow. Where it was warm and sunny, with green prairie grasses and tall pine trees surrounding it. It smelled wonderful, like sagebrush. I loved that smell. It was so familiar. I reminded me of days long ago, roaming the school grounds of my elementary school. My three best friends in the whole wide world would wander with me._

_ My dream moved to __**that**__ day, the last day. I was walking with my friends, going to the Metro down town. It was our tradition. Amber and I had gone there on the last day of my seventh grade year, which was also the last day of her eighth grade year. Now it was Josh and I's last day of eighth grade, and by extension our last day of middle school. Abi was coming with us since she was kind of like a little sister to me. I treated her like a sibling, and constantly reminded her of how she was two years younger than I was._

_ So Josh, Abi, Amber, and I were walking to the Metro. We were acting like little kids, jumping in mud puddles, splashing each other, and laughing hysterically. Us girls were debating which of us would win the hunger games if we were all thrown into an arena, while josh tried to figure out how the hunger games worked._

_ Out of nowhere we had bags thrown over our heads, and I screamed as my world went dark._

I woke up to see that it was dark out side. We were somewhere in the west appilacians. "Sorry I woke you," Josh told me, "I was just starting to feel tired."

"That's okay just go to sleep, it's my turn to take watch anyway." I looked at my friends, and they looked so much happier free. We had escaped the school a few days ago thanks to my awesome new powers. I had seeped away the scientists' strength a little at a time. Absorbing it and giving the energy and strength to my friends. Josh and I grew strong and fast in our cages. Josh and I developed a telepathic link to where we could share thoughts and images.

I had grown mocking bird wings, Josh grew bat wings, Amber grew butterfly wings, and Abi had grown hawk wings. We were strong now. All I had to do was find some help. There was one thing we knew for sure though, and that was that not one of us could ever see our families again. We had been gone for a year, and no doubt they though that we were dead.

When every one was up I gave them the news; "Today we choose names, and then we build our house," I informed them. "I am now Muse. It's short for soft music playing loudly." They looked at me like I was a lunatic, and Amber had a look on her face that told me she didn't like the idea.

"Choose names?" She asked, crossing her arms. "Like, we're not going to be ourselves anymore?"

"Amber, we have to change names. We can't have people seeing us and hearing our names and realizing who we are. You know full well that we can't go back to the lives we used to live, and we're most likely on a missing persons' list." She shook her head, sitting down.

"Fine, _Muse._ But if what almost happened to Chihiro happens to me, I will be very angry with you." She said, and I laughed.

"Amber, we're not in _Spirited Away._" She shrugged.

"For all I know, we could be." She grinned at me. "And I'm only building a house if you draw the blueprints and figure out how we're going to build it, because I'm no architect. Although, if you build it then we'll be living in a house that will collapse on us in our sleep." We all laughed and I realized that this might be easier than I thought.

* * *

Hey! I know this is a _really_ short chapter, but I'll be posting, like, 14 or 15 in the next few days because the chapters are already written and are on my computer haha. Hope you guys enjoy! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Muse's POV**

After a long, _long_ time our house was done, _finally_. The lowest underground level was for floodwater to go into, above that was the girls' rooms, and the highest underground level was the boys' rooms. On level with the ground was our kitchen and we had one level above there that was for looking out at the surrounding area. The best part was that the roof was disguised to look like another tree growing in this small clearing. It had taken a week, but it was worth it.

"Alright guys, you can't put this off any longer. We are going to town today, so you need names. We all know why your current ones won't work." They started nodding sadly. "If our parents think that we are still alive, then they'll start looking for us. We don't know if those Idiots will start hunting them down. Well the sane ones any way," I added the last part as an after thought because all of the scientists in the building had lost their sanity the day we broke free. Fun right? Actually, it kind of was.

"I'll be candy," Abi told us somberly, "I love the stuff so much that it might as well be my name." Candy had gotten us all smiling and joking again.

"Josh should change his name to Edward," Amber teased, "Since he won't drink blood and all. Even though he should."

"Amber he's not a vampire," I reminded her. "He's just fused with vampire bat D.N.A. It's not his fault, nor is his ability all that strange."

"What's his ability?" Candy looked very confused. Oh yeah, we hadn't told her yet. _You wanna tell her?_ I heard Josh's mental voice in my head. I shook my head and started, even though I didn't really want to tell anyone.

"When we were in the lab, they kept trying to see if Josh would drink different mutants blood. But he wouldn't. That was all they were trying to feed him. I used to give him half of my bread. A few weeks later I discovered exactly what I could absorb from people. First I absorbed the muscles, fat, and bone strength of them. I realized that they lost while I gained. I tried it in reverse, giving you guys' things while I lost. I started taking mental aspects too. One night I gave Josh a little of my blood, because he was getting sick. That established a mental connection between us. We both got better, because we could share images, and find comfort in our minds. We found that Josh absorbed abilities through drinking a creature's blood."

"So that's what happened." Candy's eyes widened and she gave Josh a sympathetic look, then realizing he couldn't see it.

"I'll be Jake, short for Jacob," Josh-or should I say "Jake"- informed us.

"You wanna be a werewolf instead?" I teased him. "The thing is, none of us will change our names to Bella." He laughed and the rest of us joined in, and Amber interjected.

"Well, I know _I_ won't but if Lynn-I mean _Muse-_ hadn't already changed her name she could have." We laughed again.

"That's okay this Jacob would rather have a Muse instead." He stated and I winked at him. _Thanks!_ I sent him.

"Well if Abi gets to have her name be Candy and Josh gets to be Jake then I claim the name Kat. Short for Katniss."

"Speaking of book characters, who wants to see if we can fly to the library?" Three pairs of eyes widened at me, and Amber-make that Kat- started jumping up and down squealing. "Come on we need to learn better flying skills." We walk out of the kitchen and one, by one jump into the sky.

Most of us fumbled a little bit, and Kat almost fell out of the sky. Since she's a butterfly and not a bird I couldn't teach her to fly like the rest of us. She got the hang of it, although she was looking a little pale. _We'll have to figure out some way to sustain her body. _I told Jake and he nodded.

_Yeah, she hasn't been eating much lately, and she seems really weak._

_ That's because she is._ I told him, feeling a little bad for her. She was in an enclosed space smaller than everyone else's cages and she was encased in something where she couldn't see anything around her. They had cut off all of her food supply and she was already claustrophobic _before _we had been captured.

"Okay, we get one hour to look around." I told them once we were inside. We all signed up new library cards for this town; it's only about a half hour's flight from our new home. We each had a salvaged backpack that some kids were going to throw away since school was out for summer. Kat and Candy were going to look at some novels, while Jake and I were going to look at Audio books.

Jake and I had moved over to the novels and looked at some to take with us when I spotted one I knew very well: Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment. I picked it up and remembered days that seemed a lifetime ago. In my parents' house, reading these very books. The scientists had talked about how those filthy two-percents kept interfering and setting them back. Could they be real? I was pondering this when a familiar voice behind me softly said "Boo," and gently poked my back.

* * *

_(Chapter written by Sunflower, edited by Scarlett)_


	3. Chapter 3

**Muse's POV**

I whirled around to see my cousin. "Faith?" I asked, bewildered because she lived in Wyoming, not Maine. "What are you doing here? Where's your brother? Aren't you a long way from home?" That's when I saw Dawn. "Why did you bring her here?"

I mean I appreciated the friend, but shouldn't they be in Wyoming? "It's Fey now," Faith corrected me. "And she is Midnight." Fey explained pointing to Dawn.

"Why did you change your names?" I lowered my voice, asking, "Did they take you too?" I had to know if they need a home like we did.

"If by they, you mean the wacko scientists, then yes they did. They took our entire bus. Every one inside, and we're the only survivors other than Jaws." Fey pointed to Jordan, who I have known all my life. He had been altered too? "The scientists just came in one day, and let us go. One was saying 'fly away pretty birdies, be free' and then he let us go."

"That was probably my fault, I took their sanity." I moved behind Fey and whispered "I'll show you mine if you show me yours." She nodded and when we were outside and far away from civilization she extended her wings as I watched them come out of her hoodie. She had bright blue humming bird wings. Kat and Candy came over, and soon we had all seen each other's wings. Jaws had Owl wings, and Dawn (or I should say Midnight) had moth wings. I wondered if she was like Kat when it came to the whole cocoon-thing. After all, butterflies and moths are related. "Well," I told them, "I guess we should take you home."

That night when we had settled into our sleeping bags and cots, we found that we could finally rest easy. Soon I would find the flock, and ask them for help. Then I got the idea that I could go tonight. I could go to Colorado, and get their help. I had just packed every thing up that I was taking when I heard a voice behind me whisper out of the darkness, "You weren't planning on leaving me behind were you?" Jake was there in the entrance between the Kitchen, and the boys' rooms. He was swinging his backpack over his shoulders, and I could see that there was no point in arguing.

"Just let me leave a note, and then we'll go." I told him.

* * *

_Hey guys, Jake and I are going to find the flock. _

_We will be back soon._

_Kat and Fey are in charge while we're gone._

_Don't do any thing stupid._

_I expect you guys to stay safe while we're gone._

_We will be back and we will find Max._

_Sincerely,_

_Muse_

* * *

_(Chapter written by Sunflower, edited by Scarlett)_


	4. Chapter 4

**Muse's POV**

We had flown for hours, searched for days. I couldn't believe we hadn't found them. _WHY HADN'T WE FOUND THEM?_ It had begun to feel like they were some elusive dream.

"Hey, it's okay muse. So what we didn't find them yet? That just means that we have something to learn about concealment from them." His voice was soft, and his dark blonde hair looked beautiful in the moonlight. "So how about we swim? I know how much you love to."

I knew how bad of a swimmer he was, so I also knew that he was just trying to help me feel better. As if he could read my mind, he smiled. Oh wait, he could. "Want to see how much you can learn swimming wise, my pupil?" He rolled his eyes and we bolth laughed. " Patience is a virtue young grasshopper."

"But not a necessity," he finished. I nodded. " Beat you down to the lake," he exclaims blowing past me. I extend my wings, and took off a second before he did. I grabed the packs and droped them over him_. Think fast goof ball!_ I told him, then soared off to the lake.

A half hour later we are at an underground lake. Jake found it a few days ago. He says that the rock won't cave, but I wasn't not too sure. I mean, we are talking about several million tons of rock. Jake's head was turned towards the entrance, even though there was nothing there other than the moon (which he can't see very well). I silently slipped beneath the waves and grabbed his ankle, tugging on it gently. He fell in and we soon surfaced, laughing hysterically.

"Hey does something sound funny? I swear I heard someone." Jake said, a curious look on his face.

"Well, you didn't hear me, maybe your edge is slipping," I joked. I jumped, tackling him into the water. He jumped up and we splashed each other, a splash war. We swam around whirling, diving, splashing, and basically having a good time when a shadow crossed the entrance. _Oh, just a cloud_, I thought, tackling him again.

When we separated something wasn't right. I felt a hand on my neck, holding me down. None of my underwater attack moves worked, my lungs feeling as if they were on fire. My body was screaming for the fire of no air to stop. I went limp. It seemed only fair that fire should claim me. From fire I was born, through fire I lived, and by fire I will die. And just as I reach my last thoughts, the fire is gone.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" The voice turns slightly shaky. "Who gave you wings?"

I opened my eyes to find Maximum Ride staring at me. "Finally," I gasped, "The others will be so happy." Max's face started to look fierce. "They did this to my friends and cousin too." I slightly moved my wings to indicate my meaning. "I wasn't born this way I-"

"-We were taken." Jake finished.

"All seven of us," I added.

"Candy, Kat, Muse and I were stolen and we ran into Fey, Jaws and Midnight in a town by our home."

"Jake and I started leading them."

"Why did you both start leading? And quit finishing each others' sentences" Max interjects.

So Jake and I told her everything. About how we were dating on that last day, how we never ever could see our families again. Knowing this, building our house, finding my cousin (who was a couple months younger than me), Jaws (who was Kat's age), and Dawn (who was also my age). Then she asked about our powers. _This is going to take a while…_

* * *

_(Chapter written by Sunflower, edited by Scarlett)_


	5. Chapter 5

**Fey's POV**

When I woke up that morning, it was hot out. This wasn't odd, because I was known for attacking people who tried to get me up in the morning. What was odd was the fact that Candy was gone. I mean, that kid could sleep until four in the evening if we'd let her. I walked up to the kitchen, and that's when I saw the note. Really? Seriously?! I mean, we only got to see each other for less than a day, and now Muse was gone? And who was this Max person anyhow? I turned the paper over looking for answers. _AskKat_. Okay…? Why were we in charge?

Well no matter what, my cousin was many things, but a fool was not one of them. She was smarter than me in many ways. As I was musing over our different strengths, it came to me. I knew the most about plants! I could feed us. Kat was good at keeping us on task! That must be it! Then I remembered one other thing. When we were both still full-fledged humans, we had been nearly even when it had came to sparring! "So I guess we're in charge," a familiar voice said behind me.

I spun to see Kat. "I guess we are," I joked back. "What's 'the flock?' And who's this Max?" I asked.

"Well the Flock are seven two percent avian, that have been mutants all of their lives. Max is their leader. They think Angel's dead; And Fang leads his own 'gang.'" She air quoted the word gang. "Huh! They're real! Muse left to form an alliance, and team up! This is going to be _so_ cool!" Well that explained it some.

"How about today we learn what we can?" I offered. "About them, I mean. And tomorrow we can stalk Muse and Jake?" I heard a set of feet land and Candy walked into the kitchen.

"What are you guys talking about? Jaws went to go catch some fish in one of the ponds we found. Maybe we can find some good plants to go with the fish." She blinked at us. "What?"

Kat half grinned and laughed. "School may be out, but it would be important to keep learning. How do you feel about home school?" I rolled my eyes.

"At least wait until Jaws gets here with lunch, I'm starving." And on that note, I went and got some edible plants to go with our meal.

* * *

_(Chapter written by Sunflower, edited by Scarlett)_


	6. Chapter 6

**Jake's POV**

"Now explain it to them." The blurry figure with a high soft kind of gravelly voice ordered. That figure; that person had interrupted Muse and I's splash fight. And Muse had just started smiling after so long. She-_Max. Her name is Max_. Muse sent me through our mental link. _Shall I start? _ I asked Muse. She shrugged. "Why not?" She added in a seemingly careless voice. "Wait a moment, could you guys introduce your selves? I know who you are because when I was completely human I read the books Max wrote. It wasn't until I was a free four percent Mutant that I realized that you guys were real. Jake just needs to hear your voices so that he knows who you are. To him you just look like blurry shapes." Muse added for me.

"Are you a mind reader?" The one called Max asked Muse. Why would she want to know? _Because the flock member that she practically raised was a female mind reader named Angel._ Muse answered my internal questions.

"No," I answered for Muse. "We just share a mental link. She can tell what I'm thinking, and vice versa." This time I told the story (with help from Muse). They learned about how we both got new powers. I from blood, Muse from watching other people use their abilities. They learned that absorbers got all but other methods of absorption. We told them that we could take powers and give. Muse described our escape, and finally we told them that there were five more of us. We talked, and described for hours.

"We came to learn." Muse stated. "We wish to survive. None of them are going to that wretched place again. Not if I can help it. We have a house that we built, we have supplies, and we have each other; but we all need to learn how to fight. I need them to have a home. The scientists want Jake and I as weapons."

"They think that they can make us be a two person army. But we can play hard to find." I added.

"We didn't have any trouble finding you." Max pointed out in a voice that told me she didn't like the idea of helping us out. Not good.

"Try playing hide and seek with us. You couldn't find us in a year." Muse insists.

"She's really good. She made our house look like a tree. She showed me and asked my opinion." I added to support her.

"It's my wish to show you guys our house. I won't hurt you and neither will anyone else, as if we could if we tried. Our house isn't as comfy as yours but it's getting there." Muse must've really wanted to show them our hidden house.

"Is it like a cabin? I've seen some cabins. Some of them are really cool. Or is it like an underground house?" The voice was High, higher than Max's. It was kind of soft. I guess she talked a lot. _Nudge, _Muse told me.

I turned my head in the direction of the voice. I looked over to where I could sense that she was and moved to stand at her side. I grabbed her hand and held it in mine.

"Oh, wait, you don't know me. Sorry, I'm Nudge." She said, and I internally laughed.

"I'm Gazzy," replied a young male voice.

"I'm Dylan," Responded a softer, older, male voice.

"And I'm Iggy, another blind kid." This voice was higher, kind of like some male singer that Kat likes, but it was still male.

"So will you come? Will you meet our friends? Could you just meet them at least? If Jake and I are too freaky we understand, but I know that Kat would really appreciate it. You guys are like her idols." Muse offered, although she told me in my head, _She doesn't like Dylan, but the rest of them she idolizes._

I Casually put my arm around her shoulder. Then I quickly put her in a headlock and mussed up her hair. "I'm not the weird one, you are." I teased.

She pulled my thumb at an unnatural angle, and stepped on my foot. Then she grabbed my arms and pulled them behind my back. "Only on the days that don't end in Y." She stepped away after a moment, and we were bolth still laughing.

"Okay, but this better not be a trap, or you know what we'll do to you if you've really read the books." Max answered after Muse and I's tussle.

* * *

_(Chapter written by Sunflower, edited by Scarlett)_


	7. Chapter 7

**Muse's POV**

"You did what?" I asked stunned once we got home. Max and the Flock were outside still waiting for us to give them the signal to come in.

"We did a recon mission. We each got a blanket and a backpack from our houses after you left. We all agreed that we should all have a little piece of home, and we waited until we knew the coast was clear. Cheer up! We got Jake and you ones too. We each chose one personal object to bring also." Fey stated. Really? Seriously! I can't leave them for five minutes, I swear.

"I got hair ties, and these." She proceeded to pull out several pairs of shoes that weren't exactly hers out of her backpack. Then she passed them out to every one but Jake.

"I got my ipod." Kat offered. She shrugged, as if to derail my anger. I knew that she needed her music to live, but still, seriously?

"I took my track jacket." Jaws replied.

"And I got us our Violins." Fey said, turning to me with eyes pleading with me not to be mad.

"You said one personal object. So what did Jake get, if I got one." I asked extremely curious.

At that moment two boys Candy's age stepped out into the kitchen. "Well, Jake got me." answered the boy to the left, the one that I distinctly remembered as being Jake's brother. "I'm Luke."

The other boy went to stand by Candy. "Really Candy? Did you have to kidnap your boyfriend?" I shifted my gaze. "Did she kidnap you?" I turned to face Luke. "And why are you here?"

"I'm James now," Candy's boyfriend stared at me before continuing, "We came here to see if you would offer a home to fellow mutants."

"We're now erasers, and we are the resistance. Don't worry though, being the next generation leaves us without expiration dates." Luke finished.

"What made you change sides?" I ask.

"Seeing you guys in cages. We were trying to attract attention to our selves, until a few days ago when Candy found us." I raised an eyebrow.

"Well I have a surprise for everyone, so I want you to be nice. And no Jaws, just because you're the oldest Male does not mean you get to be in charge. We left it to a vote that you missed, and Jake and I were voted in charge."

"The mental link you guys share is the only reason you guys are 'leader'." Jaws grumbled.

"Wanna get knocked out of the sky again?" I countered, and then yelling, "You guys can come in now."

"Who wants to get knocked out of the sky?" Said Max, the rest of the Flock flooding in after her. Kat's eyes widened and I thought she was going to faint.

"Obviously Jaws." I replied. "Would you like to give him a crash course?" I offered jokingly.

"Naw, I don't believe in getting in other people's fights." Max replied.

"Well, feel free to thunk him if he starts getting on your nerves." I invited. "I would like some lessons on fighting, though." I added.

"We both would." Jake agreed.

"Maybe I should introduce you guys to my Flock." I said to the original Flock, all of them nodding. "Well, you already know Jaws and Jake; over there is Candy and her boyfriend James, next to Jake is Luke who is his brother, next to them is Kat, and next to Kat is Fey and Midnight." I said. Fey, Midnight, and Candy said "hi" and waved eagerly; Luke, Jaws, and James nodded, and Kat waved shyly, proceeding to say, "Um, I've got to go get, um, something." Her eyes fluttered onto Dylan, and for whatever reason I could see…was that anger in her eyes? They flashed to Iggy, just for a second, and then she fled to her room. I laughed inside my head, not wanting to embarrass her.

I introduced Max and the others to my new family afterwards. Finally I added, "I hope you don't mind, but we seem to have two eraser friends, Luke and James. Yes the erasers are back. No, they won't turn on us. Apparently they quit their jobs when they saw us in cages. So that explains why they're still sane."

"Well, at least Fang's not here, because he'd leave again." Stated Dylan, an unreadable look spreading on his face. In Max's eyes I could almost see hurt, but there was so much calmness that I couldn't tell if I was just seeing things or not.

"What did you do?" Luke asked eyes wide, ignoring what Dylan had just said. I knew that if Kat had heard that she would have punched Dylan straight in the face. "How did you guys get out?"

"I stole their sanity." I said as if it weren't a big deal. Then I explained it to him by telling him the absorber story about how I could take abilities, and other attributes of people. Or if I chose just "develop" the abilities of other people. When I was done I said "Okay who wants to help find dinner?" Then I began to pass out dinner chores to my flock as we got prepared to find our meal. I went into Kat's room and told her what we needed to do.

* * *

_(Chapter written by Sunflower, edited Scarlett)_


	8. Chapter 8

**Muse's POV**

The flock had been with us for a week. Max was okay with our house, even though it was still "in progress." Nudge kept trying to help us make it fashionable, Gazzy trying to make it "bomb friendly." Fey and I had flown to big cities in our area and had made some money by playing our violins. We didn't get much, just enough to buy some canned goods for during the winter. Kat avoided Dylan at all costs, and when she was around him she'd glare at him when he wasn't looking and then turn away when he was. She wouldn't talk to Iggy, although he was one of her favorite characters in the book. When I tried to talk about it with her she would quickly change the subject. I guess the whole thing was just a little too overwhelming for her right now.

Jake and I had worked out the agreement that while Fey and I were out playing to help get some nonperishable food, he would learn how to fight from Max. Then, when Fey and I got back he'd teach us some of the moves. It was going pretty well, then Max decided to teach us herself. She taught us how to fly better and use our wings better, although Midnight and Kat had a harder time since they weren't birds. However, Midnight was doing much better than Kat. The rest of the flock just kind of chilled, none of them really did training with us, except for Gazzy sometimes. Iggy cooked most of the meals and Dylan helped with training some days, but never with flying because I asked Max not to have Dylan around Kat anymore than needed.

Slowly we grew stronger, harder, tougher, and fiercer. Our lessons had been doing so well and Fey and I's playing were making a lot more money recently so we decided to have a free day. Kat didn't take any fighting classes with Max or the Flock though, since my agreement with her. It's very complicated, but long story short, they could kill her easier than a fly and she didn't want to get hurt so I tried to help her fight separately. We were just going to hang out around our house (which was looking a lot better, we had found an abandoned refrigerator that still worked so we hooked it up and Jaws set up the electricity) and work on it some more, until the erasers showed up. Not Luke and James (they were already there) but big, huge, full grown, next generation erasers. They had guns and armor, and they looked hungry for battle.

"Okay guys. Remember where you designated tree is?" Nods followed this bit of info. "Good, Jake listen, and inform me when they are going to fire." I turned to Nudge. "Sorry I absorbed your telekinetic with metal power, I didn't mean to." She nodded and shrugged.

"You see it, you can do it, weather you want to or not." She replied.

Max and I returned to giving orders. We'd made several joint battle strategies, over the week. But this was the one that was going to happen if they were carrying guns. "Jaws, you get to play prison guard to our two "captured" erasers. Luke and James you have to appear injured, because you need to distract them. Midnight you use that chameleon thing to sneak up on them." Yes, Midnight can blend in with her surroundings. Found that out a few days ago. "Fey, Kat, and Candy; drop stuff from above. _Heavy_ stuff. Try to distract them. All right let's go." I said, finishing my orders.

I started flying. I started making the guns move weirdly. I slid them up then down, left and right. They started wolfing up. I felt the unmistakable presence of a programmer. Dang it, I hated those guys. They could program anything they saw into anyone's D.N.A. The only exceptions to their programming were shields, and other programmers. I had to find him/her and either steal that power, or kill him/her. I did a few mockingbird calls, which meant to wait for me to call again.

_Should I come?_ Jake asked me. _Or do you want me to stay? _ I thought for a moment. Why not? He could share my power, and he'd be the only safe back up. Well, I guess he could come.

_Follow me, but be quiet. They have a programmer, and he looks like a warrior._ I knew who it was, because he was now within easy seeing distance. Soon there was a shadow flying in sync with me.

_ Can I switch spots with you? _He asked and I nodded. We moved to where he was flying above me. I suddenly dived down, and landed in front of the programmer.

"Hey, what's up? Are you having fun in eraser land?" I spit at him. "Your friends are masochists." I continued. "We torture them and cut them up, but all they do is laugh." Of course we didn't hurt the two erasers that were living with us. I mean we're not cruel. At this point, that's what this eraser needs to believe. The more distracted he was, the less chance he had of programming weird stuff into my friends.

Jake landed next to me. "They laugh a lot. I think the young ones went mad. Although I think that you're insane too." Jake finished.

"For example, you think that there are two of us, but is that true?" I continued. "It all depends on what you count. Do you count the minds or the bodies?" _Okay make this argument long; I'm going to see if I can steal his programming abilities. _I told Jake, and he nodded.

"If you count the minds, there's only one. Or more specifically, two minds joined together." It was a good argument; I only hoped that he could keep it up. I'd only managed to leach a thirty-second of his power away. "We once had two minds, like most couples. Now we share Brain space." I was up to a sixteenth of the eraser's power. _Keep it up Jake drag it out,_ I silently pleaded. "There are also two of us. We started out with two minds, and we still have two bodies. That would put you at a distinct disadvantage. We both can attack you at once. But the question is, can you separate our minds?"

_Try to use my power to continue and weaken his ability._ I told Jake. "Not so fast, I can feel you." The eraser grinned. "Now it is your turn to feel me," He grinned showing his fangs and claws.

* * *

_(Chapter written by Sunflower, edited by Scarlett)_


	9. Chapter 9

**Jake's POV**

So you listen to us talk all that time, and now you decide to attack us? Really? Why! At least Max has been teaching us to fight. I do what Dylan suggested to us. I stretch my mind and start controlling Muse's body, while still being aware of my own. She does the same; and through the link, we are one. Becoming a wolf would harm us in this situation. (Muse had absorbed some of the power of the 10 percent human, 90 percent wolves we had encountered at the school, and now having absorbed an eraser's powers, she could fully change.)

"Hey wanna go wolf against wolves?" Muse asked. Through our mind link I could shift too. I remembered how hard those wolves had worked together. They also had been HUGE.

"Why not? We would be similar, no doubt." I answered and we shifted. It was pretty painful, but Muse told me that it would be at first. I trusted her judgment. _Don't worry, next time it won't hurt. I'll program the power not to_. Muse replied to my thoughts.

We started circling the eraser. I prepared to leap, fur bristling wings erect. All the while, we continued to circle. Wait a second; if I had wings, then I could fly! Well that made this thing a whole lot easier.

Muse and I pounced at the same moment, jaws wide, teeth sharp and gleaming. I aimed for his throat, while Muse bloodied his heels. I swiftly shifted back to my human-ish form, and grasped its throat. It crashed to the ground with me on its chest, hands around its throat. When I stood up, he was dead.

"Let's go help the others." Muse croaked sadly. I put my arms around her shaking form. She hated to kill squirrels, let alone people.

She started to cry, and I was sad too. I couldn't stand to hear her in pain. I squeezed her tighter. I could tell that she was feeling comforted, so I stepped back. Then we got angry.

Muse was mad at them for making her cry and I was mad at them for hurting her, for ruining our lives, for mutating our cells. Sure flying was fun, and a great release, but now we were mutant freaks who could never see our families again.

"Let's go," I sighed. She nodded, and went to go pick up the rifle that the eraser had thrown, when he knew that it wouldn't work against us. Then, Muse picked up the hunting and boning knives that the eraser had. Then she put the sheaths on as expertly as if she had done that before.

She gave me sad smile (I could tell because I could sense it). "Race yeah to Fey, Kat, and Candy." I smiled and took off after her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Muse's POV**

The rest of the battles had been faster than ours, and really? We had gotten the toughest one. Although it was probably best that way. They had done the start-out maneuvers perfectly. Then, when the erasers were stunned, the groups teamed up. Kat and Candy went with Nudge, Fey and Jaws fought alongside Gazzy, and Midnight had helped Max and Dylan. Jake and I had been in the smallest group.

It had been just the two of us, and somehow we had managed to defeat the strongest eraser in the group. I don't know why I had picked up his weapons when the eraser was dead... maybe it was because it just felt right. I don't know. It also might have been because I'd had lots of experience handling knives when I was little, and never really felt safe unless I had one near. Whatever the reason, I had just gotten us three more tools. Mechanically I gathered the knives and weapons of the other erasers.

After the fight I had gained three butterfly knives, four more boning knives, three straight back hunting knives, and two sliding blade knives. I kept the fixed blade knives in the sheaths that I had strapped around my body. I grabbed the discarded guns, and stored enough for each person to have a few in each room.

"All right guys. The knocked out ones should be coming to fairly soon so we need to take them to the lake." I said, surprising the flock.

"Why would we take them to the lake?" Max asked looking thoroughly confused. "Why can't we just hurry up and leave?"

"Easy, throwing them in the middle of the lake will bring them to. Then the shock of the water will cause their brains to panic. Since they have been trained as assassins, their minds will automatically block out the painful memories." I explained, since I was almost certain that they were.

"Even if they weren't, the shock of waking up somewhere dangerous would make the relatively safe memory of fighting us seem like nothing more than a dream." Jake finished for me.

"Plus the water's still warm," I pointed out, a gleam coming into my eyes, "there isn't any ice yet." I chuckled somewhat darkly, while looking at the erasers. Wolfies want to swim? You do float, let's just hope that you wake up when you hit. "We can take them, but could you guys try and help pack up stuff?" I got nods from the flock, minus Max.

"I'm coming with you guys." Max stated, daring me to challenge her by the look in her eyes. I still wanted to be her friend, so I did the obvious thing. I was friendly.

"Sure, we can all go, both your flock and mine." Upon saying this, I turned to speak to four of my group. "Except Candy, James, Kat, and Luke. Sorry guys, but you can't come."

"Why can't we come?" Candy protested, pouting.

"Because I think it's best for you to stay here. Candy, you're too young to be seeing it and I would guess that the Erasers we have with us don't want to see others of their kind drowning. And Kat, well, you know why." Kat nodded, obviously eager to get back to the house. She caught gaze with Iggy and her face turned red, forcing her to look down.

"Wait a second…where's Jaws?" Luke asked, looking around.

We searched everywhere, but Jaws was nowhere to be found. Finally, in exasperation, I flew really high, and really fast. That's when I saw it. Jaws had really bloody wings, like he had slammed wings-first into barbed wire. He had been mean to me at times, but he was like my brother. I have known him all my life! W_holly cow! Jake get the flocks! Hurry! They're taking Jaws away! He's all bloody and gross!_ I showed him a mental image of what I was watching.

There was only one thing left to do; distract them. The best way to do that is make their weapons useless. I made a few of their guns fire, then I slowed the blades of the helicopter, but that was really hard. The motor was really strong and my attempt was useless. I couldn't stall the blades much longer, without hurting myself.

_Come on guys! Hurry up! I need you here._ This time it wasn't a message, but merely a silent plea. I 'm going to follow the helicopter. That's what's best. I flap my wings even faster than I had been. Wait, if I could now attract metal to myself and control it, does that mean that I can attract myself to metal? I don't know, but I better try.


	11. Chapter 11

**Jaws P.O.V.**

One moment I was fighting Erasers, the next I was surrounded. I remember having them put a cloth to my nose. The sickly sweet smell, invaded my mind, and made me slow down. It was kind of like when Muse gave us muscle or a new ability. Your mind slowed down, and you could tell that something was messing with it. Soon, even these simple thoughts were too much, and the world went black.

I woke up a while later in a helicopter. There were no doors on it and I was going to jump out, till I felt the gun on my head. I moved my wings. OUCH! Those hurt! What did I go through, a blender? I started getting up, push up style, When a heavy boot pushed me back down. I looked at my bloody arms. Then I looked up and saw Muse.

She must have gained the ability to manipulate metal because she managed to explode a few bullets. The rest wouldn't. "Muse! The bullets are lead!" I screamed. Max, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, and I were the only ones that knew that! I looked up just in time to watch Muse get shot. "Not her wing, that's unfair!" I shout at the erasers. They laugh, and knock me out.

I woke up in the school, dazed and confused. I don't quite get what they want me to do, so I stay confused, and plan my escape.

It takes a week, but I finally gain their trust. Two days later, they let me go for a fly. Two hours later I collapse in a strawberry field.

I wake up from my dream to look around my cabin. Apparently, my dad is Ares. Or that's what the warrior in my reoccurring dreams keeps saying. What surprised me the most wasn't the fact that Demigods were real, and I was one of them, but the fact Mrs. McKay was a child of Demeter. Apparently her grandma was Athena. It was weird to find out that my eighth grade English teacher was a Demigod. It was also weird that her and her twins still lived here.

I had been here for about two weeks after I landed here. I was now living in the Hermes cabin because Ares hasn't "claimed" me officially yet, so no one knows that he's my dad. Life here is still weird, and it was defiantly different than anything I had ever encountered before. Today I was going to ask for a quest to find the flocks since they're still in danger. Apparently there were two children of Hades in the flocks. One disappeared from Wyoming; the other had been lost for fourteen years. Nico said that neither of them were dead, so it must be one from my flock and one from Max's.

I had a suspicion of who they were, so I was going to find Chiron so that I could rescue my friends. I now understood some of their powers, since they're hereditary. I walked up to the big house. "Hey Chiron, there's something I didn't tell you." The Centaur turned his eyes toward me.

"What is it?" He asked, clearly confused.

"I'm not the only experiment. There are eleven more winged ones, and two shifters." I tell him, trying to be vague. "Muse says that candy's boyfriend and Jacob's brother are Erasers. I'm sorry if this is inopportune, but I have to find them, with or without help from the camp."

Chiron paled, having realized that many cruel fates had befallen each of these young heroes. I just smirked. Welcome to my life. "You should go confront the oracle. Take Nico and Annabeth with you." I nodded, and went to go confront the oracle.

We went up over to the cave Rachel lived in and Annabeth and Nico followed inside. Apparently the spirit of Delphi had moved into this weird little ginger girl.

**Muse's POV**

Great. We had followed the chopper to the school, hid in the bushes and got ambushed. "Why do you want me? I won't give in. You aren't turning me into a sick weapon!" I knew why. They wanted the ultimate weapon. Apparently absorbers had to be born. They couldn't be made in a lab.

At first, they wanted me to give up my powers. To give them to others. They thought I was resisting, until they did a brain scan, and saw that I really couldn't. Then they found that people absorbed all their lives, and didn't know. They then found that an absorber had to be mutated by the age of fourteen. I was the youngest. I was now fourteen. Jake and I were the only absorbers left.

It was at that moment, that Jake was shoved into my cell. "Oh, what now," I shouted as I looked up. I knew that they heard, stupid scientists.

* * *

_(Chapter written by Sunflower, edited by Scarlett)_


	12. Chapter 12

**Muse P.O.V **

Okay, why are we in here? I know that the scientists want to see what would happen if two absorbers were in the same room. I knew that they wanted us to talk, and agree to their experiments. That wasn't going to happen. Not while I was alive. "You can either do this willingly, or have the painful experiments done to you." The guy announced once again. I raised an eyebrow.

"Do I care?" I replied in an extremely bored voice. I rolled my eyes. Something weird had happened when we were taken again. After being injected with a Needle that had I don't know what in it, my eyes had changed. Now my right eye was blue like it always had been, and the other was black. Jake told me that it looked like a big pupil. I don't know why they had stuck me in here. Jake and I should be in our dog crates... Oh no! They didn't!

Why can't those stupid nut chops get it! Absorbers aren't born this way. Any absorber can be born any where at any time! It never mattered who the parents were. "Could you guys go die!" I shouted to the scientists. "Please! Just go die so that we can live. In peace. With out you guys stalking us!" I continued yelling at them about how they should die, and leave us alone.

After a while I got bored. So I sat next to Jake. He curled his wing and arm around me. "It's okay, I'll keep watch so that you can get some rest." I snuggled closer to him. Happy that this was the one part of my old life that they hadn't managed to touch. At least I have control somewhere I thought, as I drifted off to sleep.

I was in my meadow again. It had always been my happy place. Here I could be myself, and no one would care. I shifted into a wolf, and ran to my mine. I walked around inside until I found the special wall. It was made of a rock that drew me. The rock was black as night, but I knew that the more it absorbed, the more it would change.

I willed some to come to me. Then I brought the rock to a forge. And I started building. Every pound of the hammer was a time of strength. Every dip in water was a time of sadness. And every Time in the flames was a burst of frustration. It was a terrible, beautiful, wonderful dream.

I loved it and hated it with everything I have.

I woke up in my tiny padded cell. I had now been in this building for one month, three days, two hours, and thirty-seven minuets. I had been asleep for five of those days. Sweet! I have an internal clock! Wait... I have been asleep for five days? In a row? Holy cow! That was a long dream. Oh well, It was time. I was busting us out of here.

I would use the same mind trick as last time... but that'd have some unfortunate results. Oh well, I already knew how I was getting out of here. _Ummm, Muse we haven't been here that long. I think that your internal clock is about 4 days off. We've only been in here for about a day, but we still need to get out. _

* * *

_(Chapter written by Sunflower, edited by Scarlett)_


	13. Chapter 13

**Kat's POV**

I was a little more than upset when Jaws got captured. And then on top of that, Muse and Jake got captured as well. You may be wondering why I'm not the leader alongside Jaws since we're the two oldest, and most of the time the two oldest people are the leaders. Well, we voted and we figured since Muse and Jake had a mental link that it would be best for them to be leaders since they're the best fighters.

Plus, the rest of us would all be awful leaders.

So, you know how Muse, Jake, Nudge, Max, Gazzy, Iggy, and mostly everyone else around me has powers-besides the whole having wings thing? Well, I don't.

And I hate it.

I mean, almost everyone has more than one power (or so I assume) and here I am, nothing but wings. And most of the time I can barely keep up with most of the other flock members! Did you know that even if your huge mutant butterfly wings are the most beautiful in your flock and most unique that doesn't mean they're just as fast as everyone else's? Well, I'm the slowest person in the flock-in both flocks! It kind of makes me frustrated that I'm not as skilled as everyone else. I walk faster than all of them-I walk very, very fast-but I fly slower! Can you say also unfair?

I'm just complain-rambling again aren't I? Sorry, I get like that when I'm worried about other people because if I focus on other things then I'm not worrying about them anymore.

Great, now that I'm thinking about Jaws and Muse and Jake again! I feel awful!

I bit my lip, resisting the urge to cry. I did a lot of crying when we were in those dog cages, and now that we were sitting in a circle trying to figure out what to do about Jaws, Muse, and Jake; I was about to cry my freaking eyes out.

Great. Just great.

When nobody spoke up with ideas, we sat there for about 5 minutes and then I couldn't take it anymore.

"That's it!" I exclaimed, standing up. "I'm not just going to sit here while Jaws is injured and is being submitted to who knows what especially when Muse and Jake are both in the same position!" I gathered up my backpack, someone coming up behind me and putting a hand on my shoulder, making me freeze. The hand had such an unfamiliar feel on my skin-this was one of the few days I was wearing a tank top and no sweatshirt since I was getting uncomfortably warm.

"I understand you want to get your friends, but we need to make a plan. We can't just go storming in there like mad men when we all need rest and we don't even know where they are." Iggy said softly, making me wince inwardly. I had been trying my best to avoid Iggy, being as how seeing him makes my stomach jump into my chest and makes me all weird acting. I guess that's what happens when one of your biggest book-character-crushes is actually real. I mean, if I met Peeta Melark I'd be the same way. But that's beside the point.

I stood still, but said in a quieter but very serious voice, "You don't get it, do you?" I shrugged his hand off my shoulder, heading into my room and stuffing my iPod and laptop-which I had kinda sorta stolen from the white coats although it is actually mine that I bought from Best Buy, it was in my backpack when they took us.

I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard Iggy, standing right freaking behind me; say, "I do get it. They're your family, and you care for them. But you still need to get some rest and we still need to make a plan."

I spun around, looking into his eyes, the eyes I had refused to look at since the original flock was brought back here. I stared into his eyes for a couple seconds, looking down as I shook my head. "I can't sleep until they're safe, Iggy. I can't eat, I can't think about anything clearly, the only thing that's running through my head is that I have to save them." Tears stung in my eyes, threatening to spill out at any moment. He reached out and took my hand, my head automatically looking up, seeing what his facial expressions were telling me.

"Kat, you still need to get some rest. You're obviously tired from fighting and you're probably hurt, too. You need to at least get a good night's sleep before we go looking for them. Plus, like you said, they're who knows where. We need to think this through before we just go charging into battle." I sighed, looking down.

"I guess you're right…I just…" A few tears fell out of my eyes against my will, and he must have been able to tell by my shaky breathing because he took his free hand-the one not holding mine-and wiped the tears out of my eyes gently.

"It's okay," he said softly, letting go of my hand and just as I thought he was going to leave, he wrapped me in his arms. I was incredibly surprised by the amount of affection and sympathy he was giving me. But after a few moments of shock I clung onto him, appreciating what he was doing more than he could imagine.

**Max's POV**

After Kat stormed out of the room and into the hallway, disappearing after a few steps, Iggy got up and followed her for Voice knows what reason. (You like that? Voice instead of God? Oh well, I thought it was clever.) I stood up myself, told everyone I was going outside for a fly, and exited Muse's and Jake's flock's house. Just as I was about to run, jump, and unfurl my wings I stopped, seeing something I'd never seen before. Iggy was holding Kat in a tight embrace. My flock never ever showed sympathy or affection for anyone outside the flock, and when it comes to Iggy he doesn't show it to anyone at all!

Then, out of the blue, someone jumped onto my back and put something over my mouth. Before I got the chance to kill the stupid person on my back, my vision got hazy and they jumped off my back as I fell to the ground, unconscious.

**Gazzy's POV**

I stood shocked at what I'd just seen. Max had just been ambushed, put in a sack, and before I could run up and punch the guy in the face and take make back he sprouted wings and flew away. There was no way that I could catch him by myself! I gasped and ran inside, charging into the room where Nudge and Fey were talking. She was about to say something, then saw the look on her face and her expression changed from curious to confused to anxious.

"Gazzy, what's wrong?" Nudge asked, Fey still confused. I took a deep, shaky breath as an unknown feeling bubbled inside of me.

"Max got kidnapped."

* * *

_(Chapter written by Scarlett, edited by Sunflower)_


	14. Chapter 14

After what seemed like the longest hug ever (which was actually a good thing for me), Iggy whispered in my ear, "Are you okay?" I nodded, a smile spreading across my face.

"Yeah, I am." I pulled away from him, my arm hurting a little as I asked, "Do you want to start making plans to rescue Jake, Muse, and Jaws?" He nodded and we sat down on my bed.

"I think it would be best if we got some rest tonight, in the morning assess the damage done to everyone and then figure out what we want to do from there." I nodded.

"I agree. And then I was thinking-" I was cut off by Gazzy, Nudge, and Fey barging into the room.

"Max got kidnapped!" All three of them said at the same time, making my eyes grow wide.

"W-what?" I asked, not able to believe that Max was in the possession of the white coats as well. Iggy sat next to me, the look of shock on his face probably mirroring mine.

"After you guys went in here Max went outside, and then after a few minutes I went after to talk to her and then, something was carrying her up into the sky way faster than I can fly!" Gazzy said, Nudge being surprisingly quiet. Iggy's jaw dropped at the same time as mine, and then I put my right hand over my mouth.

"Oh no…" I whispered, mainly talking to myself. There was no way we were going to be able to rescue all of them! Especially without our strongest fighters! And then I got an idea. An idea that was so insane that it just might work…

"Gather everyone up in the living room." Iggy instructed to them and they nodded, leaving. Iggy stood up, then realizing I was still sitting down with my hand over my mouth, he turned around to face me. "Are you alright?" I snapped out of my trance and nodded, taking my hand off of my mouth.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine." I stood up and we walked into the living room, everyone already sitting down in there. I gulped, knowing I was going to have to be the one to speak up. "As you guys probably know, Max got captured. That means that we have one less person-" I started, Candy interjected.

"We know that! We also know that there's no way that we're going to be able to save Muse, Jake, and Jaws now!" Tears started running down her face, and I could practically feel my heart breaking even more. We were all thinking it, and the fact that Candy was the one to say it was awful. She ran out of the room, unfurling her wings and jumping into the air.

"Candy!" I said, about to go after her when Fey stood up along with Midnight.

"We'll go after her. You guy figure out a plan to save everyone, okay?" Fey said, and I nodded, watching the other two leave. I sighed, sitting down where Midnight had just been. This is why I'm not leader. I can't even keep my flock together.

"Why doesn't everyone just get some sleep?" Iggy said, still standing. Nudge and Gazzy nodded, standing up. They went into their rooms and Iggy sat next to me. Dylan was still sitting there, and I felt a little uncomfortable with him in the room. I refused to look at him, my gaze at my feet.

"Um, Dylan?" I asked.

"Let me guess, you're going to ask me to go to my room so you guys can talk out here alone." He said, standing up. "Just let me in on whatever plan you guys come up with, okay?" I nodded and then he walked over to me. "I don't know why you avoid me and don't like to be around me, but believe it or not, I do care about Max." After that he left, and I let out the breath I didn't even know I was holding. For some reason, Dylan makes me uncomfortable. Angry, even. I think it's because I didn't like what he's done to Fang, and that Fang was someone that I really liked in the book series, actually tied with Iggy on my crush-o-meter.

"Well, I'm out of ideas," Iggy said after a few moments of awkward silence. I gulped, knowing that my idea was risky but that it would be the only way to save them.

"I have an idea, but I'm not sure if you'll go for it." I told him and he raised one of his eyebrows, edging me on. "Well, I was thinking… maybe, just maybe… we could track down Fang with Jaws' super tech-nerd stuff. I kind of know how to use it, and maybe we can get nudge to use it if all else fails. He has equipment in his room with his laptop that can track where someone's laptop is." I told him, and Iggy had an unreadable look on his face.

"That's…"

"A stupid idea, I know, I'm sorry." I said, looking down. Iggy shook his head, surprising me.

"No, that's a great idea! Fang and Max may not be dating anymore, but he still loves her. I could tell when he left. And I'm sure he still does. He'd do anything to help her out, and I'm sure if we both convince him he'll help us get your friends out, too."

"Really?" I asked, still unsure about the idea.

"Yes, I'm sure it'll work." He told me, smiling at me. He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "We can leave when everyone else is sleeping." I nodded, and then he sat back in his seat and said, "Why don't you try and see if you can track that down and I can get supplies?" I nodded and stood up, going into Jaws' room. I looked around at all of the equipment and found the one that helps you track people down. After finding Fang's blog and doing a couple clicks on the computer, it was printing out where Fang's laptop was right at this moment. I looked at it and groaned. Why did have to be so far away?! I turned off his computer and took out the paper to Iggy.

"Did it work?" He asked when I entered the kitchen. He was packing food into backpacks.

"Uh, yeah it found him." I told him, and he turned around, handing me one my backpack. I rummaged around in it for a moment; seeing that he kept my iPod in there-smart boy-and it had my notebook in it. Panic rushed over me, and I wondered if he had read what was in it. Then I felt stupid as I remembered he was blind.

"Where is he?" Iggy asked, and I was about to hand him the paper then, remembering he was blind for the 2nd time in the past few minutes, and said, "He's in Cambridge, Alaska up by Canada."

"Canada?" He asked, and I nodded.

"I don't know why he's there, but he is." I pulled out some of the food Iggy had put in the backpack, getting out 5 of my bottles out of the cabnit, ignoring the pain in my left arm, and stuffed them in my backpack.

"What are you doing?" Iggy asked, feeling what I had placed on the counter.

"I don't eat much," I said, trying to explain this without him thinking I'm anorexic-which I'm not. "Since I'm part human part butterfly, my body doesn't need as much to sustain my body. I only need drinks with nutritional values in it and I'm set for the day. Sometimes I'll eat a granola bar or a cookie, but I don't need it often." I explained. He seemed to understand. "But, if you want I can carry some of the food so that you can have more since we don't know how long we'll be gone." He nodded, smiling at me.

"That would be great." He zipped up his backpack and I put some of the food on the counter back in my backpack and put the rest away. I then zipped up my backpack, accidentally bumping into Iggy as I turned around. My left forearm hit the table just slightly, but it was enough to shoot pain up through my arm. I winced, a soft moan escaping my lips. Hoping he didn't hear and that he didn't realize that my wrist was hurt, I said, "Sorry, I'm such a klutz."

"Are you alright?" He asked and I cursed inwardly.

"I'm fine," I lied, hoping that he couldn't tell I wasn't telling him the truth.

"No, you're not. You're hurt. Where?" I sighed. I should have known he wouldn't believe me.

"My left forearm." I told him, wishing I had paid more attention to where I was walking/turning. He put his hand on my arm, softly enclosing it in his hand. Pain shot up my arm, almost unbearable, and I almost dropped to the ground.

"How long has this been hurting you?" He asked, letting go of my arm as he realized it was causing me pain. I sighed in relief, my arm still hurting but not as much.

"Since earlier today. When we were fighting erasers, one snuck up on me and twisted my left arm behind my back really hard, and if Candy hadn't come and kicked him in the face he probably would have snapped it off." I admitted.

"We need to have someone look at this." Iggy said, and I almost jumped out of my skin when someone's voice said, "Look at what?" I screamed, quietly but high-pitched, and then I figured out who's voice it was.

Dylan.

"God Dylan, you scared me half to death! Don't sneak up on me like that!" I exclaimed, my right hand over my chest.

"Sorry, I just heard something drop and someone in pain and I came out to make sure everything was okay." He said, and I cursed inwardly…again. What, does the kid have super-hearing?! Wait, he kind of does…more than the average human at least.

"I'm-it's fine." I said, and Iggy shook his head.

"She got hurt in battle earlier today and we need someone to look at it. Since, obviously, I can't." He told Dylan. Dylan nodded, coming around the kitchen table to where we were.

"Okay, let me see where you got hurt." He said, and I held out my left arm.

"It's my left forearm." I informed him, and he took hold of it (not as softly as Iggy, may I say), even more pain shooting up my arm. I dropped to the ground; tears stinging in my eyes it hurt so much. He let go of my arm, a look coming over his face that meant only one thing.

My arm was seriously injured.

"I'm so, so sorry!" Dylan said as Iggy knelt down, asking me if I was okay. I bit my lip and nodded, but he didn't need to be able to see to tell that I wasn't okay. At that moment I waned to slap Dylan across the face, not believing that he did that on accident. "I think her arm might be broken." Dylan said, kneeling down. "Can I look at it? I won't touch it, but I just need to look at the damage." I nodded and held my left hand out, at that moment realizing that my right hand was being occupied with something else. Iggy's hand was holding it. My face went a little redder than it had been a minute ago, and I tried to focus on Dylan looking at my injured arm.

"Can you move it like this?" Dylan asked, holding out his arm with his palm up, then turning it so his palm was down, then back up. I tried doing it, my breath being taken out of me as the pain became more intense. I stopped, my right hand accidentally squeezing Iggy's.

"It hurts that much?" Iggy asked and I nodded, pushing back my tears. Dylan sighed, obviously not a good sign.

"I think your arm might be broken," he told me. I shook my head.

"No, it's not. I'm fine." I insisted, Iggy giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.

"It's okay, we can still go if you feel up to it. Maybe we can wait until tomorrow, or-"

"Wait until tomorrow to do what?" Dylan asked. I winced. Well, I guess we're telling Dylan!

"Iggy and I are going to go find Fang. At this point, we won't be able to do it without him." I told Dylan, and even though his face showed he didn't like the idea of Fang coming back, he nodded. Lucky for him, because I would have chewed him out if he tried to yell at me because of it.

"I agree, if we have Fang it'll be a lot easier to rescue Max and your friends." Dylan said, standing up. "I'll get you a sling for your arm, and then you two can go. I'll keep everyone here. But don't worry, I won't tell them what you're doing." He was about to go into his room, but he stopped and said, "Oh, and make sure that you leave a note for everyone else. I'm going to pretend like I don't know you guys left." Then he disappeared into the hallway where I couldn't see him.

"That went better than I thought it would." I said, about to stand up when Iggy stood and helped me up.

"Are you sure about leaving tonight? We can wait a day or two for your arm to heal up a little bit." His voice was filled with worry, and then the question that's been burning inside of me for so long spilled out.

"Why are you doing this?"

He seemed shocked as he said, "What do you mean?"

"I've been avoiding you since I got here and now all of a sudden you're speaking to me even though I haven't spoken a word to you? I mean the hug, the sympathy, the holding hands…why? It's not that I don't appreciate the sympathy…and it's not that I don't like the hand holding, because I do, but…"

"But why am I doing it?" He finished for me and I nodded, half regretting I asked the question in the first place. He took a step closer to me, saying, "I don't understand why you've been ignoring me, but do you want to know why I'm being like this? It's because there's something about you. It's…special. Different than I've ever felt about someone before. It's…magnetizing." He leaned closer, his arm going around my waist as his lips pressed against mine. I was shocked at first, but then closed my eyes and kissed back. When we separated he smiled down at me and I blushed, suddenly very grateful that he's blind so he can't see how ridiculous I must look.

"Now that you two are done sucking face, here's your sling." Dylan said, scaring me. Again. Dylan set the sling on the counter, going back to his room. My face must have looked like a cherry, that's how much I was blushing. I tried to put my arm in the sling, epically failing.

"Do you need some help?" Iggy asked, laughing. I nodded, laughing myself. I was still processing what had just happened. Had Iggy just kissed me? I wasn't sure, thinking while he helped me into my sling. He grinned and said, "What do your lips taste like?"

"What?" I asked, confused. He laughed.

"When I kissed you, they tasted fruity. I can't put a finger on what it tasted like." I blushed even more, remembering that I had put lip-gloss on earlier today.

"Oh, you're tasting watermelon jolly ranchers." I told him, a confused look coming over his face.

"Jolly ranchers…?" He asked, I then realized he didn't know what that was. I laughed, telling him to hold on a second that that I would be back.

I went into my room, grabbing a bag of jolly ranchers I got at a convenience store the other day. I put the bag in my backpack, selecting two watermelon flavors out of it before zipping my backpack back up. I unwrapped one, grinning.

"Open your mouth." I told him. He obeyed and I popped the jolly rancher in his mouth, saying, "It's a candy. It's hard though, so just suck on it. Don't try chewing it, it hurts your teeth really bad." He closed his mouth, sucking on it.

"This is the taste!" He said, grinning. "How did you get your lips to taste like this?" I laughed.

"Two words, Iggy. Lip. Gloss." He laughed, swallowing what was left of the candy.

"Well, I hope what you were putting in your backpack was a whole bag of those candies because that was unlike any other candy I've had." I laughed, grinning.

"Well then you'll be very happy with me because that is what I was putting in my backpack." I grabbed a piece of paper, writing a quick note on it. "You ready to go?" Iggy nodded his head.

"I am if you're up to it." He said, and I smiled.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine." I told him genuinely. He smiled and nodded, grabbing his backpack off of the counter. I slung mine over my shoulders, sticking the note to the fridge. We walked outside, unfurling our wings and right before I jumped into the air I stepped closer to Iggy.

"And oh, I forgot something." I quickly kissed him on the cheek, continuing with, "Thanks, for everything." He grinned as I leaped into the air, my wings catching the wind under me, Iggy doing the same.

* * *

_Dear guys,_

_Iggy and I are going off to find some information on where The School might have taken Max, Jake, Jaws, and Muse. I'm not sure when we'll be back, but until then Dylan and Fey are in charge. Please don't worry about us, I left my laptop and we'll send you guys emails frequently so that you guys know what's going on and so you know we're alive. If we don't send you an email for more than 2 days, then you guys need to assume we're dead or the white coats have taken us. Make sure that you're logged into Fey's email account; I'll be sending the emails to there. Please stay there until we get back, unless we don't email you and you've assumed we're dead/kidnapped. _

_Sincerely,_

_Katniss _

* * *

_(Chapter written by Scarlett, edited by Sunflower)_


	15. Chapter 15

**Jaws P.O.V**

Well this day is awful. Annabeth, Nico and I had set off about two hours ago, and they were about to drive me nuts. Annabeth insisted on searching every city for this guy named Percy, and Nico just went along with it. It felt like every one was ignoring me. One more day and I was going to fly back to them my self. We were just settling in for the night, when Annabeth asked, yet again how I got my wings.

"I seriously can't tell you, Annabeth. Muse and Jake would kill me." I told her in reply to her question.

"If I guess, you won't be telling me." She replied, concentration on her face. "If I guess the general way, will you tell me your story?" She asked pleading in her voice.

"Maybe, but only if we go faster. I don't know if Muse, Kat, Candy, Max or any of the others was captured-"

"How do you know Max? She's just a fictional character! How does this work?" Annabeth interjected.

"Muse brought her to us." I smirked, and continued "I got my wings similar to the way Max did. I got to be human for fourteen years first. I was taken with my friends," I continued, bitterness entering my voice. Then I told the rest of the story. Not using names, just he, she, and positions.

About an hour later, I slipped. All I did was say "I owe Muse my life. At first I thought she was safe, then I thought she was dead. She escaped though, and saved the rest of us." I finished. "Since all of us met back up, we voted her leader."

"Who is this Muse? Why did you vote her leader? Are there more of you?" She asked eyes narrowing slightly.

"Muse has a story all her own. I think she could be a child of Athena." I joked. If only this demigod could know Muse, I swear that they would become fast friends. They were bolth fact machines after all. "You know, Muse could write a dictionary, and have fun. I bet she would call it 'this makes sense' Katniss would help her."

"Katniss can't be helping you!" She interjected.

"Katniss named herself after the book character, we just call her Kat for short. She's part butterfly." Might as well keep spilling since Muse was going to kill me anyway.

"How does she survive? I thought butterflies were delicate." Nico asked.

"I don't know really. Muse, Fey, and Kat go hunting for nectar flowers every now and then. Fey tells us that there are several strengthening herbs in there. Muse insists on adding honey, saying that it would taste weird if she didn't, and Candy usually adds sugar and cinnamon." I sigh. "I don't think that it's enough though, I swear that Muse literally gives her strength."

"How?" Was the one worded reply, which I think came from Nico.

"Weren't you paying attention?" I tease him. I sigh and roll my eyes, "We better set up a watch schedule. I'm ready to go to bed." They agree and Nico takes first watch. I gradually drift into a light sleep.

**Muse's POV:**

I was getting bored, although I had had lots of fun talking mentally to Jake. He still feels that he owes me, not for escaping, but for me fixing his mental issues. Yes, he used to have some, but I found a scientist that needed the mental illness more than Jake did. Or, at least I thought that he did.

I decided that we're getting out of here today, there was no way that Kat was surviving without me helping her, and the others are probably just as lost as her. But before we escape, there's one blue-eyed girl with white wings that needs to come with us. You must know who I'm talking about, but just incase you forgot to take your meds today or something, I'll tell you, but I'll give you 3 guesses. No guesses? Oh well then, her name is Angel, cute little blonde haired girl that can read and control other people's minds. Now you remember her? I figured. Well, she has to come with us; we have to help her escape if only to repay Max for everything she's done for us. I can't make the scientists go nuts again, but I can frenzy them.

Right as I was about to frenzy all of the scientists and figure out where Angel was some guy walked in, releasing us from the room-ish thing we were incased in.

"Who are you and what do you want?" I asked, about to kick some butt if I needed to.

He looked around, as if not wanting to let the cat out of the bag, so to say. "I'm here to help you escape, I'm a long time friend of Amber's. I'm an intern here, just started today, and when I found out what they really did here I was disgusted. I was going to leave when I saw you in here, I remember you from Amber's birthday party last year…although I'm sorry I don't remember your name."

"No time for names right now, let's just go," Jake said, and I nodded.

"But we have one person we need to get before we go, she's a little blonde girl, she has wings like us but completely white. Her name is Angel." I told him.

"I think I know who you're talking about." He said, looking around, continuing with, "follow me." He led us down a white empty hallway, and I wondered how it was that it was so empty. He led us to a room full of dog cages, and sure enough, there was Angel. I leaned down to her cage and let her out, and she glared at me when she got to her feet.

_ We're on your side, Angel. We're mutants, like you. We don't have much time, you have to trust us._ I told her mentally. I could feel her rummaging through my mind, and then she smiled.

"You're friends with Max." She stated, as if it were a fact. I smiled back and we rushed out of the hallway and out of the building.

"Wait, wait, wait." I said, making everyone stop. "How is it that we passed absolutely _no_ white-coats on our way out here?"

"I told everyone that the lab room was on fire, there are no fire alarms in there because they cant risk something happening and fireman coming. I actually did make a fire, so we better leave…like _now_." Angel said, unfurling her wings and jumping into the dark night air. Jake and I each grabbed Amber's friend by his arms and jumped into the air, following after Angel.

"Where are we going?" I asked her, and she smiled.

"Where else? To go get Max!"

"Max? You know where she is?" I was super confused, how was it that Angel knew where we lived?

"I don't know where you live, you must not be caught up yet. Max was captured by the Whitecoats again, was in the room just across from mine. She's waiting for us in a forest just a few miles from here." It took all I had not to ask a bazillion questions, like how the hell did Max get captured and why wasn't I told, but I decided to just follow her lead into the big mass of trees called a forest.

10 minutes later we were all in the trees, Max, Angel, and Amber's friend-who I still can't remember his name, were sleeping since Jake and I volunteered to take first watch. We were having a mental conversation about what to do next and I sighed.

"I wish Kat was here," I said aloud, and suddenly, there she was, sitting on the tree branch in front of me. I felt weak, but the sight of her brightened my spirits.

"Kat!" I shrieked in delight. She had been looking around, shaken up by her sudden change in scenery. She looked at me, shock written all over her face. I noticed that there was a sling on her arm, and asked, "What happened to your arm?"

"Did you bring me here?" Kat interrogated, ignoring my question. I nodded eagerly, beaming about my new power. "Why would you do that? Iggy will think I got kidnapped! Without me there as his eyes, anything can happen! Muse, what the hell!"

"Kat, I'm sorry, but I needed you here and you know why." I gave her that, _I know you don't like it, but I keep you alive_ look and she glared at me. I smiled at her and said, "But come on, you can't stay mad at me, I'll send you back as soon as I figure out how, okay?" She sighed, smiled, and nodded. "Now be quiet, Max and Angel are sleeping." I told her, my voice a little lower.

"Just Max and Angel?" She asked, confused. "There are three people laying in the tree over there, aren't there?" I laughed, remembering about Kat's friend.

"Oh yeah, you're friend is with us." I told her, a confused look spackled her face. "Yeah, young fellow, our age, brown hair, blue eyes, glasses, smart…" She pondered for a moment, trying to figure out who it was that could be with us. "He was at your birthday party the year before we were taken, he's the one who got you that huge dictionary that you forced me to let you keep."

"Jonathan?" She asked and I nodded, glad that I finally knew whom it was since it was eating me up. "Oh my gosh! Did they…"

"No, they didn't hurt him. He signed up to be an intern and then found out what they really did and was going to quit but remembered Jake and I from your birthday and saved us.

"Thankfully," She said, seeming a little happier now that she had an old friend to talk to. The only problem is, what are we going to do with him now that he knows about all of this and surely knows that our families think that we're missing…

Despite theses haunting thoughts plaguing my brain, I gave her a look that said, _I'm going to heal your arm now, okay,_ and she nodded.

She gasped in pain, and I winced. I hated how much this hurt her, both physically and emotionally. Although it did hurt me, I couldn't stand to see her in pain. After her arm was completely healed I gave her a little more strength. She sighed in relief as she dropped her sling onto the ground, rubbing her arm. It wasn't that it was hurting her anymore; it was that her arm felt weird. She always gets used to it, but she informed me the other day that when she's healed or given strength that her body doesn't feel like her own. My bones hurt, but I willingly weaken them a little to help Kat each time. I think tomorrow I'll just drink a couple of gallons of milk, and be fine.

_ That's kind of how I feel when you show me things. _Jake told me mentally.

_ What? You fell like you need a few gallons of milk? _

_ No, it's like I'm seeing, but not through my own eyes,_ Jake explained, and I laughed mentally.

_ Yes, but you __**aren't**__ seeing through your own eyes._ I told him and he stuck his tongue out at me. I laughed again.

"So, can you take me back to Iggy already?" Kat asked, her voice shaky. She had a pained look of sorrow on her face, half because she was away from Iggy. Wait…she was talking with Iggy? And he would be _worried_ about her?

"Kat, I would, but I don't even know how I brought you here." I told her. She sighed, putting her face in her hands.

"Well, this is just great isn't it?" her voice ringed with sadness. I frowned and scooted next to her, putting my arm over her shoulder.

"Come on, it'll be alright. I'll figure out how to get you back to him, but until then brighten up." She just nodded, informing me she was going to go to sleep. I wished her sweet dreams and moved up to the same branch as Jake, letting her have the one she was already on so she didn't have to move. I sighed, wishing that I had a way to fix her problem.

**Iggy's POV**

_(Hours Earlier)_

We flew silently for a long time holding hands, partially because I couldn't hear her wings flapping since her butterfly wings were so silent even _I_ can't hear them, but mostly because I just wanted to make sure I could keep track of her. She seems so dainty and small, I don't want her being shot of the sky by an Eraser with a gun and then me now hearing it happen. I doubt I wouldn't be able to hear it, but there are about a million other things that could happen and this is just the best way to make sure I know where she is at all times.

"So, how did you get your name?" I asked. The question had been burning inside of me ever since I met her.

"Well, I'm in love with this book series called The Hunger Games, and the main character's name is Katniss. Since Jake named himself after Jacob from Twilight-another book series-I wanted to name myself after Katniss. Everyone just calls me Kat for short."

"Oh, I get it." I replied, not sure about what the "Hunger Games" meant (maybe a food competition book…?) but it seemed interesting that she liked the character enough to name herself after her.

"Yeah, I own multiple copies. Maybe I can read it to you sometime." She offered, her voice sounding like she was trying not to go too far. I smiled at her.

"That would be great." I told her. We continued some light chatting for about an hour and then we stopped talking, just enjoying each other's company and the great feeling of flying.

After a few hours I could feel her body slightly drop altitude and then regain it every five minutes or so. She wasn't the best flyer, but this had nothing to do with her flying skills.

"Hey Kat, let's stop for the night. We can continue to fly up to Alaska tomorrow."

"Are you sure? We've only been flying for a few hours and we're not even half way there yet," she yawned, loosing a little bit of altitude again and then coming back up.

"I'm sure. We need to get some rest. We haven't had a stop and it's been about 3 or so hours, so it'd be best to land and sleep. Is it still dark outside?" I asked and she nodded.

"Yes, and we're just above some mountains. Oh, I see a cave we can sleep in." She said, shifting her position a bit. I did the same, and soon we were landing. I let go of her before we tried to land though. I'm not sure how she lands, and I didn't want her to end up falling on her face. I ran to a stop and didn't hear anyone around me for a minute.

"It's right over here, just a few feet away." Kat said, her voice behind me. Dang, how can that girl land so quietly? I can barely hear her walk as well; she's the lightest walker I've ever met. Plus she walks really fast; so she's pretty much swift, silent, and possibly deadly. She put her hand in mine and we walked a couple of feet until we reached the cave. I could tell because I could hear my feet echoing around me. We stopped and took off our backpacks, setting them on the ground.

"I'll take first watch, okay?" I told her, getting a head shaking in response.

"No, I'll take watch. I'm not really tired anyways."

"You need the rest," I insisted. "Plus, your arm is still injured." She sighed, sitting on the ground.

"Fine, but wake me up in a couple of hours, okay?"

"Will do." I walked to the mouth of the cave, sitting down. Usually a blind person taking watch wouldn't be the best idea, but with me I have almost three times the hearing of a regular blind person, so with the exception of Kat, I can hear someone coming from a mile away. I could barely hear her breathing, but could tell when she was asleep because she had a soft snore. She sounded like she was cold because I could hear her body shivering against the pavement and her breathing was shaky. I took off my sweatshirt and walked over to her, placing it over her torso and shoulders. She seemed to cling onto it, at least a little bit warmer.

I took watch and after about 4 or so hours I went over to Kat. I hesitated to wake her up, wanting to let her sleep, but I needed the rest as well. I softly shook her and she woke up, rubbing her eyes.

"Is this your sweatshirt?" She asked, handing it to me.

"Yeah, you seemed cold so I put it on you."

"Thanks." She said, and I could tell from her voice she was smiling. I smiled at her and she got up and went and took watch. I laid down, sleep soon catching up to me.

When I woke up it was warm outside. I figured that Kat had let me sleep in until it was light outside. I heard a rustling and figured that it was her, although she usually doesn't walk that loud. "Good morning Kat." I told her cheerfully.

"Iggy?" It was Max's voice coming across from me, but I knew it was Maya. "Who's Kat? What are you doing here, why are you all alone?"

"Have you seen Kat?" I asked her, ignoring her questions.

"No. Who's Kat?" Panic exploded inside of me, anxiety hitting me so hard I thought I was going to pass out.

Rising to my feet, I replied louder. "Where's Katniss? What did you do to her?" With no reply I started screaming at her. "Where is she?! I have to find her! She could be kidnapped!"

"Iggy, calm down. How about we go find Fang? You can explain this to him." Maya reasoned.

I calmed down a little, a spark of hope rising inside of me when I realized she might have found Fang and told Maya where I was. We took off, and it wasn't long before we landed again. Fang's voice soon greeted us. "Iggy? Why are you here?" He asked me.

"Because Kat-I mean Katniss-wanted to. She's gone, Fang." I told him. I heard the rest of the group shuffle outside. "Katniss wanted help."

"Whose Katniss?" Holden asked, clearly surprised by my behavior.

"A character from The Hunger Games." Star scoffed. "It's a book where kids go into an arena to fight to the death. Katniss is one of the main characters." I glared at her. Or rather in her general direction.

"_My_ Katniss is a butterfly." I told them. "Or rather part butterfly. She's like us, only a bit different." If only they knew. She's one of the best people you could ever meet.

"They call her the 'mocking jay,' not 'the butterfly." Star replied, really starting to get on my nerves. "I think that you're becoming delusional."

"She's a four percent experiment. She's a butterfly kid, and she named herself after her favorite character. We call her Kat for short." I snapped at her, turning to Fang. "Now do you know where she is or not?"

"No, I have no idea where she is." Fang said, actually sounding a little bit concerned. "Iggy, are you sure you're feeling alright? Maybe you should sit down. Was the Flock reading you novels again?" He asked, and before I could say anything the most annoying person ever just had to interject.

"Yeah, you could have just made her up. I mean part butterfly? Really?" Star laughed, making a huge mistake by saying what she was about to. "She wouldn't be able live or fend for herself. She'd be way too fragile, and I bet she'd be pretty hideous looking too. I mean, she would probably have a huge proboscis on her face!"

And that's when I lost it.

I lunged forward, about to hit her for making fun of Kat like that. Fang held me back, telling me to calm down. But the sound of how Star had stopped laughing and sounded like she had jumped out of the way to avoid me, I had made my point not to make fun of Kat. _Ever._

"Don't you dare say that about her!" I yelled in her general direction. "She is the opposite of hideous! She's flawless!" If I hadn't been so angry, I probably would have been very surprised at the words coming out of my mouth.

"How would he know? He's blind…" One boy said, and before I had the chance to say anything to him Fang pulled me away from them.

"Iggy, I know you obviously really care for this Katniss person, and I believe you. She is real. When was the last time you saw her?" Fang asked, and I calmed myself before answering.

"I woke her up to take watch and I went to sleep. I woke up and Maya was in the cave, and Katniss was nowhere to be found." I told him. I was shaking I felt so horrible. "This is all my fault, I should have taken full watch, I should never let a fragile thing like her take watch in the middle of the night, Erasers could have gotten her and taken her just like Max!" Guilt swallowed me up, making me fell more awful then I ever had in my entire life.

"Wait, did you say 'just like Max?'" I nodded. "Is Max captured?"

"Yes, that's why Katniss and I came to get you, a couple of Kat's friends and Max have all been captured and who knows who else by now, maybe they've gotten Nudge and Gazzy too." I informed him, and he was very silent for a couple of moments, so I continued. "Can't we fly after them?"

"No, because not all of my group can fly."

"Well, then you, Maya, and I can go, and we can each carry one person." I suggested, and I was pretty sure he was giving me a weird look.

"That leaves one person behind."

"We're leaving Star behind. Let's go." I turned around, ready to leave like that, but Fang grabbed my shoulder and turned me around again.

"We can't leave her behind, no matter how much you hate her." I cursed inwardly.

"Well do you have a better plan?" I asked, and he paused for a moment.

"Well, we could get everyone fed and then figure out what we want to do. Give it a day; we'll propose the idea of going after her. For now, we should try to figure out where she might be. Alright?" I sighed and nodded, knowing that he wouldn't budge on the no-leaving-anyone-behind.

We walked over to the rest of the group and Fang went off to get food. He showed me where I'd be sleeping that night and then I flew a mile or so away from everyone to think.

_I just hope she's okay,_ I thought, sighing and lying on my back.

Soon I heard a rustling behind me, and Fang's voice saying, "Hey." He sat down next to me, offering me some food.

"I already have some," I replied, although my stomach was in knots and I couldn't eat anything without being sick. He shrugged and set the food beside me.

"So, care to tell me the story of what's happened since I left? Looks like I missed a lot." He said, and I could tell through his voice he was yearning to hear about Max. So, I explained everything that's happened so far minus a few parts (aka, me and Kat kissing). Afterwards he said, "Wow, I really did miss a lot. So this Katniss girl, is she your…" He started, and I pondered this myself. Was Kat my girlfriend? I did kiss her, but Fang kissed Lisa and they weren't dating. I shrugged.

"Doesn't matter to me I guess. There are more important things to think about than labels." Fang nodded, and I sighed. "I just feel like this is all my fault."

"It's not all your fault Iggy, she was taking watch and something happened. You told me she was fragile, and I'm guessing that anything could have happened to her weather you had been there or not." He tried to reassure me, and I nodded, although I really didn't feel any better.

"Well, can you take me back to camp? I'd like to try and figure out what we can do tomorrow to go after Kat." I stood up, stretching.

"Yeah, of course." He walked in front of me and I followed him back to where everyone else was. Fang was talking to his "flock," if you can even call it that since not all of them can _fly_, when I heard a noise from behind me, three people is sounds like, walking and talking. I slipped out and coughed out of them in a chokehold.

"Iggy?" Said a voice that I soon recognized.

"Jaws?" I asked, letting go of the person-male, it seemed-I was holding. "What are you doing? Where did you go? Is Kat with you?" I asked hopefully.

"No, she's not, I'm not sure what happened to me but Annabeth said she saw be stumble into Camp Half Blood and I was really injured and I woke up a few days later and she explained all she knew about what happened to me, but I still can't remember." He explained, a girl who I assumed with Annabeth whispering to Jaws, "Who is this guy?"

"My name is Iggy, I'm friends with Max and Katniss and Jaws, along with many others." I said, turning in Jaws' general direction. "So you haven't seen her?"

"No, why? Is she in trouble?" His voice expressed worry, and some other person (the one I had in a chokehold) spoke up.

"Wait, Katniss? Max? Iggy? Aren't they the people you told us about Jaws?"

"Yes, Nico, that's him." Jaws stated. "Now can you let him answer my question?" After that Nico stopped talking, most likely crossing his arms by the sound of it.

"She's missing. We went off in search of Fang, and I let her take watch for a little bit and when I woke up in the morning she was gone."

"Then I guess we'll have to find her." Annabeth said, putting her arm on my shoulder. "We will find her, trust me." Was it that obvious that I was terrified of something happening to her, of me not finding her? Well, at least now I was with someone who knew what she looked like. "I have an idea, let's take you guys to Camp Half Blood. Even though you're blind and I can't tell if you're dyslexic or not, it seems like you and your friends are trouble magnets from what Jaws has told me so far." She started walking in the direction of Fang's voice, and we all followed.

After we got together with Fang and his group we made a game plan to head to Camp Half Blood, wherever that was. Jaws assured me that if we went there we'd find someone to help us locate Kat. I agreed, only because I had no other options.

**Jake's POV**

After calming Kat down, Muse came over and sat with me. I knew how emotionally attached Kat got to people, and I could tell that Muse was thinking about it. Kat was already asleep, I could tell from the faint snoring coming from the branch she was laying on.

_ Hey, how are things with Kat?_ I asked her mentally, my arm around her waist. She sighed inwardly.

_Fine, I'm just really worried about her, you know? I don't want her falling in love with him since he's a bird kid and he might not like someone like her, also he would be her first love and with the state she's in when it comes to emotions, I'm worried that if they broke up that she would do something awful to herself._ Her body was really tense, so I took of her jacket and rubbed her shoulder and neck area.

_Muse, she'll be fine. She needs to learn to do things on her own and have some room to spread her wings. If she gets heartbroken by Iggy, then maybe it'll be a good thing. This whole thing will be an experience for her to learn and make her own mistakes, which she needs to do. She may be weak, but I don't have to be able to see to know that she wants-and needs-to do things on her own for once._ She calmed down a bit, so a sent her a smile. _Now why don't you let the mom part of you go away for a little bit and get some rest?_ She nodded and laid down, closing her eyes as she slowly gave into her need to sleep.

* * *

_(Chapter written and edited by Scarlett and Sunflower)_


	16. Chapter 16

**Fang's POV**

I had no idea who this Katniss person was, and I didn't understand Iggy's obsession with her. I didn't get how he knew Jaws, and I had no clue who this Muse person was or why she even mattered. And Max…

My heart thrummed a little at the name. I wanted to see her so bad and have ever since I left. Even though I didn't know who this Katniss girl was, I kind of felt grateful that she had come to get my help. I mean, if Iggy and Kat hadn't traveled out to find me then I probably wouldn't have gotten a chance to see Max again. Jaws had acted weird when he saw me, like he was waiting for me to ask him something. I don't know why I wanted to see Muse, but for whatever reason I did.

Sometimes I used to see a blonde girl with blue eyes, but with a face like mine. It was weird. She would go up to the white coats and convince them to leave. Then she'd talk to the dead experiments. I saw her when I was awake and when I was dreaming. I had always dismissed the girl as someone I wished I could be.

Anyway, now we were headed to a "camp" for half bloods. Whatever those were. Iggy trusted people he'd never met before. The boy called Nico whistled and out of nowhere the biggest black dog bounded into the clearing we were in. When I say big, I mean elephant sized.

Nico walked up to it and started petting it. "Good girl." He told her over and over. So it was a she. "Mrs. O'leary will be taking those of us who can't fly."

I was about to object, when Annabeth suggested the pegasi. I had no clue what those were until six winged horses soared into the clearing.

"So now they're experimenting on Horses. I can't say that I'm surprised." I commented, Annabeth looking confused.

"Fang," Jaws interjected, "as far as I know the school hasn't started horse experiments yet." I raised an eyebrow. "Think Greek mythology." He suggested.

I didn't really know what that was but I wasn't going along with- "You can trust Jaws, I do," said Iggy. Okay, now we have to follow the blind kid to make sure that he doesn't get himself in a boatload of trouble.

"Fine," I reply with no emotion, and take off into the sky.

A few hours later we came to a place where there was a large strawberry field. There was a farm style house, and several cabins. It looked so much like Ann's house that I almost puked. I flew behind the pegasi, and followed them down.

When we landed, we were swamped with people in orange shirts. So what, a few more people came. There was a guy that had a horse body. Seriously, he had the top half of a man, and the body of a horse.

Annabeth marched right up to him. They talked for a while. Then the horse person cantered over to us. I prepared for a fight. The horse guy held out his hand.

Every thing in me was stunned, WHAT? I shook off my shock, and shook his hand. Okay what ever. "Welcome to Camp Half Blood." The guy said. A guy with green eyes came over to us.

"Well now you're back." Annabeth said to him.

The boy smiled and took Annabeth's hand. "I found something cool, but I got lost. Luckily I found my way out again." They walked off, catching up. That got me started thinking about Max and what she must be going through right now.

**Max's POV**

I woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. They smelled delicious, and I was starving. I glided down to where Muse and Jake were holding bags of fast food with "Hardees" on them. They passed out food to everyone, and I noticed that Kat was with us. When did she get here? I decided not to ask.

We continued like that in companionable silence for about the next hour as we ate.

There was a crashing noise as Jonathan fell to the ground. Some people just don't know how to sleep in trees. In that moment Kat and Angel appeared. Angel was laughing. "I guess only a mind reader can get you up," Muse teased Kat.

I had noticed that they wouldn't get Kat or candy up. Kat would fight and hurt herself. They felt that they owed Candy some sort of childhood.

Amazingly, Angel had got Kat up without hurting either of them. Neither of the two friends had noticed how much I noticed. I didn't really understand what was going on between the two until Kat appeared last night and I heard the whole conversation. Oh yeah, that's how she got here. It was strange, it seemed as if the shadows came together to form her.

That wasn't the interesting part, though. She had talked to Kat, who obviously had a broken arm. Then Muse had moved over Kat's arm and healed it. It scared me at first. About an hour later I had my ultimatum. Some how Muse was keeping Kat alive. Muse was healing her every time she got hurt. That did explain why Kat seemed to heal almost instantly, and Muse seemed to be in a constant state of tiredness and slight pain.

_That's almost exactly how it is. Did you see the milk jugs? She drank about 5 gallons of milk. She also gave us some._ Angel informed me she needed the milk to replace what her bones lost? _Yes._

"Wow," I said aloud. This was fairly weird. "How long has this been going on? Why didn't they say anything?" I asked.

"About seven months. They wanted Kat to seem normal, and Muse not to look very scary." Now that I thought about it, I really hoped Muse wasn't evil.

We flew about 300 miles before we had to stop. This was ridiculously slow! Kat couldn't do much more than glide with her wings, so I decided I was going to confront Muse on what to do. We were camped out again. This is going to take a while.

**Muse's POV**

I figured it out! I was exhausted but I now understood what had happened. I could now move myself among the shadows. I had gotten frustrated, and told them that I'd run perimeter. I hung my clothes on a bush (we had the luck of being near our house, and having time to get clothes on) shifting into a wolf. I ran for a while letting the strange/familiar feeling of my muscles working like a well-oiled machine.

I suddenly got super mad and ran as fast as I could. I was about to smack into a boulder when I thought of Jake. Suddenly I was bolting through a bush and jumping to land on his lap. Everyone but Jake and Kat freaked out. I lifted my snout and licked his chin. _I'm back, and I know what to do._ Jake relaxed further. He knew where I was and that I was somewhat happy. I thumped my tail and got off.

"Ewwww Muse! That's disgusting! I know you're dating but did you really have to lick him?! I'm okay with kissing, but licking? Really?"

I let my tongue roll out of my mouth, showing her I was giving her the wolf equivalent of a grin. Jake then walked with me over to the bush where I'd stripped my clothes.

He'd stood watch as I shifted back and got some clothes on. I teleported to the front of him. I wrapped my arms around him. He leaned down and we kissed. I can hear you gagging and barfing. So what? I love him, he is mine and I am his. We walked back to the campfire hand in hand wrapped up in each other's minds.

**Fang's POV**

I had been introduced to a lot of people today, and I had just been informed we are about to eat dinner. The people here actually aren't been that bad… yet. Everyone seems friendly. I got put in a cabin full of rowdy, obnoxious people that Nico called the "Hermes" cabin. Apparently Hermes is some dude that is a "God" from "Greek Mythology" that is the Messenger God. Those who haven't been claimed by their parent-apparently everyone here including me are a demigod-sleep in the Hermes cabin since everyone who has been claimed by their "parent" sleeps in their respective areas. They tried to give me a weapon, but none fit. They even tried an awesome pair of black, silver, and gold daggers. Those ones burnt my hands.

I followed a ton of other kids into a Greek-looking dining place. Kids were scraping a portion of their food into a green fire, for whatever reason. Some people's turned different colors when they put it in, like those from the "Athena" cabin like Annabeth or those from the "Hades" cabin like Nico. When in Rome, do as the Romans do… or I guess Greece would be the better term. I put one of my seven cheeseburgers into the fire, and then I was enveloped in black fire.

The flames didn't hurt, but they moved up above my head to form a skull. What the- "You're my brother," Nico said and slapped me on the shoulder. "After dinner we'll move you to the Hades Cabin."

* * *

_(Chapter written and edited by Scarlett and Sunflower)_


	17. Chapter 17

**Muse's POV**

Kat was still sleeping. It was just a bit after seven. Jake agreed to be on watch while I tried to send Kat back to Iggy. _Go to Iggy,_ I thought tiredly as I threw her out of the tree. In seconds, she was gone. I walked over to Jake, and fell asleep curled up against him.

**Kat's POV**

I knew I was dreaming, but I didn't care. Iggy's arms were around me, and I felt like nothing else in the world mattered. I loved it when he was close like this. He kissed me again and I smiled. We were way up in a tree and I lost my balance, falling a few feet. Iggy swooped down and grabbed me. I was cradled in his strong arms as he held us aloft. I kissed him in gratitude.

I woke up and he was holding me, I could tell by the feeling in his arms even though my eyes were closed. I figured it didn't matter since Iggy was blind and couldn't tell if my eyes were open or not. I was still half asleep so I didn't want to open them yet. Finally, Muse had figured out how to send me back to him! My heart filled with joy and I smiled.

"Morning Iggy," I whispered, my head on his chest. I kissed him, surprised that I could do so without opening my eyes. He seemed surprised and pulled back, making my heart sink. What was happening? Why didn't he want me to kiss him?

"Who are you?" the wrong voice asked, making me freak out. How could he not know me? We'd been together for a while now…or at least that's what I thought.

I opened my eyes, my mouth hanging open as I saw who was in front of me. Oh God. "Muse!" I squeaked, feeling nervous. _Please let no one else know; please, please, please. _I begged silently.

"Who's Muse? I'm Fang," he said, a very confused look on his face. He looked almost exactly like muse, just a darker version. Fang let me go and I sprung away, standing up.

"Whoa dude that was intense." A younger kid commented, for whatever reason his voice making me want to punch him in the face. He looks slightly different from Fang, but it looked as if they might be related. The minute we locked eyes his glazed over, and he just stood there staring at me. And then Iggy just had to choose that moment to walk into the room.

"Hey guys what's up?" My eyes lingered on him, and my annoyed face turned into a bright smile. My heart thumped, my face heating up a little bit. Fang and I shared a quick look, Fang grinning.

"Hey Iggy, what would you say if I told you that I found Katniss?" Fang asked. I looked back at Iggy, Fang trying to keep from laughing at my huge blush. Iggy's face looked as if Fang had just offered him a million dollars.

"Why, do you know where she is? Is she at camp? If she's not here, I swear I'll murder you." Iggy said, looking as if he were frantic to try and find me. My blush intensified and Nico snapped out of the trance he had just been in. He looked at Iggy, grinning as if he was just dying to tell him something that I would kill him for saying.

"Actually, she is here at camp. In fact she-" Nico started, but I cut him off.

"Iggy!" I shouted, running over to him throwing my arms around him. He hugged me back tightly, as if he was afraid if he were to let me go I'd disappear again.

"What happened? Where were you? I was so worried." He said, holding me tighter. It was that moment that I realized that he was more worried about me than I was him. I felt as if I had done something awful by leaving him so worried on top of me accidentally kissing Muse-I mean Fang. I started to cry and he felt the tears on his shoulder, shushing me.

"Sh, it's alright, it's alright. What happened?" Iggy asked, rubbing my back.

"I just…I was on guard and all of a sudden I was on a tree branch by Muse, apparently Muse teleported me there and Max and Angel were there and I was so worried I could barely speak I felt so sick and I just…I feel so bad for making you worry, and then she teleported me back here and I-"

"Was totally lost, until Nico and I found her." Fang said, and I was so shocked I thought I might fall. But then I remembered Iggy was holding me. Why would Fang lie to save me? I felt a little jumpy around Fang for whatever reason, not necessarily because of what I had done but he just made me feel nervous, if I wasn't in Iggy's arms I think I would have been completely terrified.

"It's okay now," Iggy whispered, pulling away from the hug a little bit and placing his lips onto mine, making everything around me disappear and making me feel the safest I had ever been. After we pulled out of the kiss Nico had his arms crossed and muttered, "I have to go do something," storming out of the room. It was weird but I ignored it, wiping the tears off of my face and smiling up at Iggy, even though he couldn't see me I was hoping he would know I was smiling at him. I looked over at Fang and mouthed, "Thank you." He mouthed, "It's no big deal," back and I could have sworn he smiled. Then Iggy let go of me, leaving one arm around my waist.

"Come on, I have something I want to show you," Iggy said, leading me out of the door. "Okay, close you're eyes," He instructed and I did so, curious as to what he wanted to show me. He moved me in front of him, running one of his hands through my long, brown hair. "Now put your feet on top of mine, I don't want to step on them since I can't hear where you're walking." I nodded, slipping up onto his feet. I was so light that it probably didn't make a difference to him.

We then started walking and I felt like I almost knew how it was to be him. It was scary not being able to see or know where I was going, but I felt safe in his arms. We walked like that for a while and then he finally said, "Okay, open your eyes."

I opened my eyes and would have sworn I was in a dream. In front of me was the most beautiful strawberry field I had ever seen in my entire life. Although I had never seen one in person, I was sure that this was the most amazing. There were satyrs playing reed pipes all among the rows of strawberries. It was like watching a time-lapse video of growing plants. I spun and put my arms around him. "This is the coolest thing ever!" I shouted. It was amazing and thrilling and scary and awesome all at the same time! The best part was being united with Iggy! I still couldn't believe that I was here with him again!

I wondered absently where Muse, Jake, Max, Angel, and Jonathan were. I hoped that they were okay and knew where to go. They were fine though. I knew this because Muse always had a way of knowing where to go. I figured that they would get here within the next few days. I was just so, so, so excited to be here. _With Iggy!_ We were heading for a farmhouse type thing. I wondered why.

Suddenly a very blonde haired girl with gray eyes came over to us with a dark haired green-eyed boy. "Welcome to Camp Halfblood." Was this girl crazy? Was I? How could I be here? How could anyone?

"C-c-c-camp H-h-h-half blood?" I stuttered in astonishment. Iggy's arms came around me to hold me up. I was shaking, had Muse known? I would never tell her this, but she had become a little scarier since we were mutated. I still liked her though, so her little moments of scary-ness were null and void in my mind.

"Are you like Iggy and Fang?" The boy who (now I was certain) just happened to be none other than Percy Jackson.

"No, I'm a girl," I blinked at him confused. Why would Percy think I was a guy? How could anyone think that? I mean, look how girly I am.

"I think seaweed brain was talking about the wings," Annabeth answered for Percy.

"I'm a butterfly, not a bird." I told them as I stepped away from Iggy's embrace, forcing my very warm wings out of the two slit things in my back. I was pretty sure that when I pulled my wings inside my skin, the barley extended part of my wings rested just above my ribs. I hated pushing them out of my back, because the air outside was always so cold. Percy's eyes widened, as if he hadn't seen any of the others' wings. I felt my face get a little hot and even Annabeth seemed to be surprised.

Annabeth was obviously the one with the best control of the two. "You have amazingly beautiful wings," she offered to console me. She'd seen my slight cringe when Percy had started staring at me. I'd always hated people staring at me. Muse even used to tease me about having stage fright. My extreme dislike of people staring had gotten way worse over the past year, for obvious reasons.

"How'd you get here?" Percy asked, his eyes glued to my wings. I glared at him and would have put my hands on my hips if Iggy weren't holding me.

"My eyes are up here!" I said, pointing to my eyes. Iggy looked super shocked and like he didn't understand what had just happened. Annabeth looked over at Percy, glaring at him. Percy looked into my eyes and his face turned red.

"I-I'm sorry, I just… your wings are magnificent." He said, his eyes going back to my wings. My face burned with what I knew was embarrassment and I pulled my wings back in quickly. Annabeth looked like she didn't understand why I was so embarrassed, Iggy at that moment realizing that I was acting strange.

"What's wrong?" He asked, putting his hand in mine. I shook my head, plastering a fake smile on my face for Percy and Annabeth's sake.

"Nothing, thanks for welcoming me to camp, but Iggy and I have things to do, people to see." I quickly walked away with Iggy, and when we were a safe distance away Iggy asked again what was wrong.

"Nothing, I just don't like people staring at my wings. Everyone seems to go into a trance when they stare at them, like they don't see me, they only see my wings."

"Well, at least you don't have that problem with me," he joked, making me giggle.

"Exactly, I know that you like me for me," I responded, kissing him on the cheek, blushing afterwards. He flashed me a smile, making my heart flutter again.

_ Aw, Iggy has an admirer!_ A voice said in my head. I froze, spinning to see if anyone was there and that I wasn't going crazy. _Don't worry, you're not crazy. I'm right behind you._ I spun to see a little blonde girl, grinning at me.

"Angel?" I asked, so surprised I thought I might fall over.

"Yep, that's me!" She answered, Iggy looking over this direction, his eyes just barely above Angel's head. Wow, he's scary close to being accurate.

"Angel's here? Where? We have to tell Max! Wait, she's not here, is she?"

"Actually, she is." Angel answered, turning to me. "Oh, and so are your other friends. The ones that were back at the house, along with Jonathan." She informed me, and I smiled.

"That's great! Are they all alright?" I asked, wondering if they had saved Jaws somewhere along the line.

"Oh, Jaws? He was the first one of you guys here. He went and found Fang and Iggy earlier." She said, and I felt a little bit more relaxed knowing all of my friends were safe. "But you're friend, Jonathan, is kind of weird." I was very confused, Iggy interrupting my thoughts.

"Who's this Jonathan?" His voice didn't sound any different but he looked…worried.

"Oh, and old friend from back when. He was an intern at the School but didn't know what they did until afterwards and quit and saved Muse and Angel and Jake! He's good, right Angel?" I asked, turning to him.

"Actually, that's why she's weird. I can't read his mind."

* * *

_(Chapter written and edited by Scarlett and Sunflower)_


	18. Authors note for all of you readers

**_A/N_**: Hello readers, Scarlett here.

Sorry about not updating for a while, but after reviewing this story a lot, Sunflower37149 (my co-writer) and I have decided to rewrite Searching. If y'all haven't noticed, the writing is terrible and there are a lot of spelling/grammar mistakes we missed in editing. With two writers who talk together about everything before writing it, we tend to explain everything to each other and so we know what's going on, but then when others read it they're confused and don't understand what's going on. Sorry about that, by the way.

We know that we kind of messed up on Searching, and that's why we're rewriting it. We're going to keep this edition of Searching up to remind us that we don't want to have another awful story like this one with strange people from other stories showing up at random with no explanation. We also realized that we completely changed some of the cannon characters' personalities and made them completely OOC (aka, Iggy and Nico, as well as some others). This time we're going to make sure that the canon characters stay in character, as well as the original characters as well.

This story line will (hopefully) make more sense and go slower than the last story. We'll make sure that we don't make the same mistakes we already have and we'll make sure to have others edit our work before we post it. We thought that having each other to edit would be enough, but even then we missed a whole lot of basic things and a lot of plot holes as well. This time we have a friend who is going to read and edit for us so we don't do a bad job like we did with this version of Searching.

Here's the link to the in-progress rewritten Searching story, we will not be updating on this story. Sorry for any inconvenience, although I doubt that many read this story or want updates. Thank you for your cooperation. s/9354825/1/Searching-rewritten

~Scarlett Sparks xoxo


End file.
